Pneumatic player mechanism.



F. W. DRAPBR. PNEUMATIC PLAYER MECHANISM. APPLICATION FILED we. 24, 1910.

1,016,917. Patented Feb. 6, 1912.

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atented Feb. 6, 1912.

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PNEUMATIC PLAYER MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED 11111211910.

Patented Feb. 6, 1912.

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F. W. DRAPER. PNEUMATIC PLAYER MECHANISM. APPLICATION FILED 517K244 1910, 1,01 6,91 7. Patented Feb. 6, 1912.

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PNEUMATIC PLAYER MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED $119.24, 1910.

Patented Feb. 6, 1912.

5 SHETB-BHEI|T 5 album I 4/ w I Witnesses xiv/r 2564 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE FRANCIS W. DRAPER, OF RICHMOND, INDIANA, ASSIGNOR TO STARR PIANO COMPN',

OF RICHMOND, INDIANA, A CORPORATION OF INDIANA.

PNEUMATIC PLAY ER MECHANISM.

Application fiiea'au'u'o 24, 1910. Serial No. 578,780.

.useful Pneumatic Player l lechanism, of

as a whole from the piano casing.

which the following is a s iecitieation.

The object of my invention is to so arrange the various elements in a piano player mechanism that all of the pneumatic mechanism by means of which the expression is controlled, will be readily accessible by the removal of a single rover.

The accompanying drawings illustrate my invention.

Figure 1 is a perspectim xiew of a player piano constructed in accordance with my invention; Fig. 2 a section of the controller box on line 2, 2 of Fig. 4; Fig. It a section on line 3, 3 of Fig. 2; Fig. 4 a section on line 4,-4 of Fig. 2; Fig. 5 a section on line 5, 5 of Fig. 1; Fig. t1 an under plan of the main transverse ind trunk with the bottom board removed; Fig. T a section similar to Fig. '2 showing a slightly llltullll l arrangement; Fig. a sertion on line 5. s of Fig. 7, and Fig. H a se tion of one of the [lushiug ralvc-s.

ln the drawings. indicates theusual int-losing casing oi the piano provuled with the usual harp ll and strings 12.

action 12} and finger l(0 \'s H. The pneumatic actions (prcferabtv comprising pri mar secondanv, and power ])nt'tltlI:lti(-.-Z.:! act upon the piano actions 12" in an) desired manner and are arranged in several horizontal series carried by transverse a tion trunks 15, these several trunks being' connected at their opposite ends to \ertieal wind trunks 16-46 which, at their tops. are connected through openings 17-17 with a main transverse wind trunk 18. These several parts are tirmly. though detaehably connected together to form a unitary structure, the parts of which ma be. disassembled only by first removing the structure Each of the vertical trunks 1G is provided with an outwardly projecting ledge 19 adapted to rest upon the. upper edge of the side. rail 21 of the casing 10.

The bottom board 22 of trunlclti is transversely pierced by a plurality of passages 23, one. for each tracker beard opening and mounted in opposite ends of eaelrpas age of the primary pneumatic.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented I ch 6 1 912.

are two nipples 24 and .25. Each nipple 24 is connected by a tube 26, which ma conveniently be tiexible as usual;.witli an opening in the tracker board' 27 aiid 'ieach nipple 25 is connected by a tube 2$ -'jwith a similar nipple 29 which leads to thep'ouch Mounted upon the top of the m'aii ifii ansverse wind trunk 18, at. about its middle, is the open faced box 31 which carries the tracker board 27 and the cissociated shcet winding spindles, said associated Sheet winding spindles being driven in a. .well known manner, in either (liiection,-b i,' means of a wind motor 32 which is also supported upon the top of the wind trunk LSfand connected to the sheet driving spindle by reversing'gearing of any well known form controlled by a shifting lever or other controlling member 33. The main wind trunk 3-1 of the motor is connected by a readily detachable flexible connection 35'with the main chamber 36 of the wind trunk 18. Mounted upon the oppositeend of the top of wind trunk 18 the expression controller bo\' 4!, one side of which is closed by a readily removable. cover board 42. Mounted upon the rear of box 41 is a bass eontroller 43, a treble controller 44, a motor controller 45 and an action rail controller 46. Arranged within box 4-] are partitions 4T, 4S, 4! 50. 51. 52, and 53 which divide the interior of said box to' form a chamber it. a main expression controller-chamber .i-I a bass passage 50, a treble pa sage 57, an iutermedi' e passage 58 and a motor contr lling chamber 5S). Leading from the main controller chamber into the treble cont roller =11 is a passage 6] which is umtrolled la valve. 62 eonnerted with the movable wmber 3 of the ll'tbltflCOllll-nlltl -tt Willt'll treble controller iin theft-rm of an ordinary b llows pneu 11ati 'the'. niot'- able member of which is normally urged in one direction by means of a spring 64 one end of which is carried by a stem 6?) threaded ,at (:6 and passed through a support 67 secured to the upper wall of box 41, afp air of nuts 68, 68 serving to hold thtLSliBm in any desired position of ad'justmentrso as td adjust tbetension of th sprin;".g Leading from the. interior of .t \e eoiitroller 144 into passage 57 is a passage (19. Leading through a horizontal portion of partition if. so as to form a communicating passage between passages 58 and 57, is a passage 71 which may be closed by means of a valve 72 which normally, by reason of its own weight, lies in position to leave passage 71 open.

The valve 72 rests upon and is controlled by a pouch pneumatic 73, the pocket of which is formed in the bottom board of box 41 and this pocket is connected by a tube 74 with the chamber 75 of a primary valve 76 which is in communication with atmosphere throu h a passage 77 and with the interior of c amber 55 through passage 78 in the usual well known manner. The tube 74 connects with a nipple 79, the passage of which leads into the valve chamber 75. Valve 75 is controlled by a button 81 which rests upon the uch pneumatic 82, the

ocket of which is connected by a assagc 3, nipple 84 and tube 85 with a ushing valve 86 which is normally open and arranged in front of the keys 14 within easy 'access of the operator. Similarly a passage 91 leads from chamber 55 into the interior of controller 43 and at its inner end is controlled in size by a valve like valve 62 carried by the-movable member of the controller. The passage 92 forms a communication between the lnterior of the controller 43 and passa e 56, and a passage 93, through partition 53, orms a communication between assages 58 and 56. A valve 94, like valve 2, is arranged to control passage 93 and this valve 94 is controlled by a pouch pneumatic 95 like the pneumatic 73, said pneumatic being connected by a tube 96 with the valve chamber 97 of a valve 98 which is like valve 76 and is controlled by a primary pouch pneumatic 99 which is like the pneumatic 82 and is connected by a tube 101 with a. flushin valve 102 like, and arranged alongside of, ushing valve 86.

The rimary valve 103 is mounted in a valve c amber 10 1 which is formed in the 45 same board in which the valve chambers 75 and 97 are formed and this board is, for convenience, secured upon the inner face of the cover board 42 so that it will be removedtherewith. The valve 103 is controlled by pouch pneumatic 105, the pocket of which is formed in the same board 106 in which the primary pneumatic pockets for the pouch neumatics 8:2 and 99 are formed and this board also is secured to the inner face of cover 41 The pocket of pneumatic 105 is connected by a tube 107 with a flushing valve 108 which is like, and arranged alongside of, flushing valves 102 and 86; Chamber 104 is connected by a tube 110 with the pocket of a pouch pneumatic 109 which is. formed in the chamber 54 of box 41. Mounted in this main chambet is a valve chamber .111. within which is mounted a valve 112 controlled by the pouch 66 pneumatic' 109 and this valve chamber- 1s connected with atmosphere by a passage 113 and is connected to the interior ot the soft pedal actuator 46 by a passage 114:. The soft pedal actuator is connected by a bracket 115) and the pedal rod 110 with the hammer rail 117, which is operated by the pedal rod 116 in only one direction so that the said rod is free to be actuated by the usual pedal 118 in an ordinary manner.

The main passage 12.1 leads from the main chamberb of box 41 and is connected by a pipe 122 which is readily detachable from a fitting 12;, connected by a pipe 121 with the vacuum chamber 19:), the vacuum in which is maintained by the usual pedals 126, and bellows not shown.

Leading through partition 48 and, forming the only coninnlnicution between the main chamber 54 and chamber 55, is a passage 127 which may be opened or closed by a valve 128 carried by a valve rod 129 reciprocably mounted in the box 41, and in the present instance, passing through chambers 55 and 59. Valve 128 is slidably mounted upon rod 129 and is normally yieldingly urged against an adjustable nut 131 by means of a spring 132, the tension of which may be adjusted by a nut 193. The nuts 131 and 133 are mounted upon suitably formed threads on rod 129, the arrangement being such that the rod 129 may have a limited play through the valve 128 after said valve has been brought into position to close passage 12?.

Leading through partition 51 and forming a direct COnnuction between the main chamber of box 11 and the motor chamber 59, is a passage 135 which may be opened and closed by the reroll valve 130 connected by a. suitable rider 137 with rod 129, this valve being so arranged that it will close passage 135 when valve 128 is away from passage 127.

Leading from the chamber 54 of box 41 into the interior of the motor controller 45 is a passage 138, the size of which may be controlled by a valve 139 which is similar to valve 62 and is connected to the movable member of the controller 45, as clearly shown in Fig. 5. This movable member of the controller 45 is moved in one direction by means of a spring 64 which is like sprin 64 and is carried by an adjustable stem Leading from the interior of controller 45 into the chamber 59 is a passage 141 which is preferably of the form. shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2, the initial end being comparatively wide and short and having a continuation which is comparatively narrow and graduall widens throughout its length. Mounted wit iin chamber 59 so as to cover the pressure side of passage 141 is a motorcontrolling valve 142 which is ke ed to a rock shaft 143 journaled in. suite 1e bearings inthe cover board 42 and in thevrear means of a end is a lever 14 o'f box 41, the last mentioned mounting being readily longitudinally separable, as shown in Fig; 5, so that the shaft 1-13 will be withdrawn with the cover 41. Valve 142 has a slight longitudinal play upon the rock shaft 143 and is yieldingly urged to a seal. against th ressure side of passage 141 by ht spring 144. The outer end of shaft 143 is\.projected beyond the outer face of cover 42 a d secured to this projected fi y,means of which the valve 142 may be a jpstcd relative to pas sage 141 andthus control the velocity of air which may be drawn at any particular time by the bellows from the motor so as to thus control the speed of the motor.

Lever 145 is connected by a link 14 6 to a lever 147 connected in any suitable and common manner with a controlling lever 148 which is arranged at the front of the key bed and this link 146 is connected with the rod 49'slidably 'mounted in suitable bearings as shown in Fig. 1 and provided with a pointer 151 arrafi ed to traverse a tempo scale 152 mounted within sight within the tracker board box 31.

Rod 129 is projected through one of the end boards of box 41 as clearly shown in Figs. 1 and 2,and to this projected endis secured an arm 153 which is connected to a rod-154 slidably mounted in suitable bearingson the front of the upper wind trunk 18 and this rod is connected by a lever 155 and any ordinary an usual intermediate connections witha r l controllinglever 156 mounted at the front of the key board. Rod

154 carries a pair of separated collars 157 and 15,8 and between which the driving gear controllin lever 33 is extended, the said collars being sufiiciently separated so that valves 128 and 136 may be moved from open to closed position and vice versa without causing any action of lever 33, which serves to reverse the action. of the motor on themusic sheet.

Passage '56 communicates through a passagelfil with a chamber 162 formed within the transverse wind trunk 18 and. this chamher 162 communicates with the one of the passages ,17 which communicates with the lefthand vertical wind trunk 16. The other passage 17, which communicates with the righthand vertical wind trunk 16, communicates with a chamber 163 which is formed within the wind trunk 18 and is connected with passage 57 by means of a passa e 164-. Eachof the action wind trunks 15 is ividcd at an intermediatepoint in its length in the usual manner by a cross so arate the bass from t 1e treble actions. T is ,partition is not shown because it, is

very 'common and its exact position in the wind trunk'will' depend entirely upon the .line ,of division which is desired between ,ge' l s, and treble. The passage 165 forms artition so as tothe communimition between chamber 31- ot trunk 18 and the motor chamber .79 of box -11.

In the form shown in Fig. l, the primary valves 7F, J5 and H ll are all arranged in a single structure mounted within the chamber 55 and this done for convenience in manufacture. 'ith such an arrangement, however, there is an unavoidable actuation of the soft pedal controller 415 whcnm'er valve 128 is cl sed and. while this does not produce any result so far as the production of music is concerned, it may possibly be objectionable to some manufacturers. This difliclxl'ty can be readily avoided by making lho'arrangement shown in Figs. 7 and S, the primary valve 103 and its operating primary pneumatic being transferred into main chamber 54. I

The operation is as follows: The entire. pneumatic action, including the action trunks, the primary, secondary, and power pneumatics, the tracker board and sheet driving mechanism and motor, and the expression controlling actions are assembled as a unitary structure, clearly indicated in Fig. 1, this structure being entirely above the key bed and supported in position by the ledges 19. In order to remove this entire mechanism as a whole from the piano case, it is merely necessary to withdraw the lower end of the rubber tubing 122 from the. fitting 123 and withdraw the retaining screws which pass through the ledges 19.

It is not often that repairs need to be made to the primary, secondary and power pneumatics of the pneumatic action proper, but adjustments to the expression mechanism are not uncommon and by my arrangement it will be noticed that all of this expression mechanism, '1'. 6., the motor controller, the bass and treble controllers,- and the soft pedal controller, are all brought together into the single box 41 so that the removal of the single cover 42 lays all of this mechanism open for inspection, repair and adjustment. This box is above the key bed and readily accessible by removal of the usual front panel of the piano case.

p The, usual sustaining pedal of the piano may lw operated by a lever 17] which is brought to a point in front of the key bed and the. conuwtion between-this lever and the sustaining pedal mechanism may been tircly a mechanical one. although it will be readily understood that, if desired, the sustaining pedal mechanism might be o iel'alcd by a pneumatic like the pneumatic 46 in which case box 41 would need to be. somewhat enlarged so that the sustaining pedal operating pneumatic might be mounted in connection therewith in the same way that pneumatic 46 is ifiountcd and in that case, of course, primary and secondary pneumaties and valves like the primary 103 and 102 and 108 are not touched.

secondary 112 would be provided. and a flushing valve like flushing valve 108 would be provided instead of lever ill.

All of the flu hingvalvt-s S0, 101: and 1 B are alike and illustrated in l l'lmlh of these flushing valve eon -in ot' a main depression of the stem comes down upon the valve seat 179 which carried by the upper end of a head 181 which is inserted into the lower end of bore 173, a tlangc determining the position in the bore. lunningl through seat 175! and through head 181 is an L-shaped bore or air passage 15 3 to which is connected one of the tubes 8:1 101 or 147. The parts are indicated in their normal condition when none of the structure is in action. So soon as pedals 126 are operateth a vacuum will be produ ed in the i chest 125 and consequ ntly in chambers 54 and 55, passages 58, 50 and 57, Wind trunl; 18 and action trunks l5, and consequentl the pouch pneumatics 82 99 and 105;, which are In communication with atmosphere be cause of their normally opened valves 80, 102 and 108, will swell up so as to close the communications between atmosphere and the chambers of the primarv valves 76, 98 and 103 and these valves will remain in this position so'long as the flushing valves 80, The reroll valve 136 is over opening 135 and the lever 33 is therefore in such position as to con nect the motor with the sheet winding mechanism in such way as to drive the same forward. in order to start the motor, the operator will shift lever 148 to the left thus swinging lever 145 so as to swing valve 142 to the right in Fig. 2. This will open open ing 141 to a greater or lesser extent and the air from the motor will have to pass through this opcninginto the motor controller 45 and thence through passage 138 into chamber 54 and from thence to the bellows, the speed of the motor being determined by the position of valve 142, andthe controller 45 opening and closing the valve 138 automatically to compensate for differences in vacuum produced by the bellows, in the usual manner.

It is often desirable to skip portions of a )erforuted music sheet and it has heretofore een proposed to make such skipping possible by providing a cover for the tracker board so as to prevent ingress of air as the perforated portions of the music sheet pass over the tracker board but such an arrangement is objectionable because of the clumsy a ppearance of the cover and because of the improper wear upon the music sheet. Iii order to aecompllsh this result, thereforei the collars 157 and 158 on rod 154 one space far enough apart to permit a closing of valx e 128 and an opening of valve 136 without any movement of lever 33 when it; in position to produce forward movement of the sheet driving mechanism. By this arrangement further exhaustion of air from the pneumatic action trunks is prevented and a direct conncction is made between the bellows and motor, thus cutting out or short circniting the motor controller 45 so as to drive the motor ahead at full speed, and consequently drive the music sheet ahead at full speed but, there being no suction 3; upon the primary valve chambers which coninnunicate with the tracker board, there will, of course, be no actuation of the pneumatic action. This position of parts is obtained by an intermediate position of the rcroll lever 150. Further movement ofthe lever in reroll direction brings collar 157 into engagement with lever 33 so as to reverse the drivin train, the sprin 132 permitting this action of rod 129 w ile valve 128 is kept closed over passage 127. I

Whenever either one of the flushing valves 86 or 102 is closed, the corres ending primary pneumatic 82 or 99 will be deflated by reason of the bleed hole, which is provided for it in the ordinary manner, and gm primary valve will thus drop so as to ush the corresponding secondary-valve 73 or 95 and thus bring the corresponding valve 72 or 94 into position to cover the corresponding-passage 71 or 98 and thus cause either the bass or the trebl end of the .action trunks to be exhausted by passage of air through the corresponding controller 44 or 43 thus reducin the force exerted on the hammers. The aCtIOILOf these controllers is now well understood and it; is thought that they need no further description.

Actuation of the neumatic 46, in order 1 to shift the soft pc a1 rail is obtained by 115 actuation of the flushing valve 108 this flushing valve serving to cause a detiation of pneumatic 105 and a, corresponding drop of valve 103 which in turn, causes an in fiation of the secon cry pneumatic 109 and a rise of valve 112 so as to-disc0nnect the neumatic 46 from atmos here and connect it to the interior of chaim or 54. M

The terrnff bellows as used in the speci fication and claims in intended to designate I 126 a wind current producin mechanism pf such character their a. ten qncy of flow Diff air from one point/of thesystem to another will be produced.

Certain of the features shown butnot .130

ranged therein to form a main chamber, a

motor chamber, an expression chamber, and branches leading from said expressionchamher to pneumatlc action mechanism, pneumatic controllers carried by said box one for each branch from the expression chainber to the pneumatic action, each of said controllers communicating with the expression chamber and a branch therefrom, a direct connection between the, expression chamber and each branch, a valve for opening andclosing said direct connection, pneumatic valve mechanism for operating each of said valves, a pneumatic motor-controller forming a connection between the main chamber and motor chamber, a valve independent of the pneumatic controller for regulating the size of the passage through the said controller between the main chamber and motor chamber, a directconnection between the main chamber andmotor chamber, 11 valve controlling said direct connec' tion, a connection between, the main chamher and the expression chamber, a valve for controlling said connection, and a valve stem carrying said last mentioned valve and the valve controlling the direct connection between the main chamber and motor chamber, the valve for controlling the connection between the main chamber and expression chamber having a spring connection with the valve stem, whereby said valve stem ma have a limited play independent of the spring-connected valve.

2. In a neumatic player niecbanism, an expression ox having interior partitions arranged therein to form a main chamber, a motor chamber, an expression chamber, and branches leading from said expression chamber to pneumatic action mechanism, pneumatic controllers" carried by said box one for each branch from the expression chamber to the pneumatic action, each of said controllers communicating with the expression chamber and :1 branch therefrom, a direct connection between 'the expression chamber and each branch, a valve for opening and closing said direct connection. pneumatic valve mechanism for operating each of said valves, a pneumatic motorazontroller forming a connection between the main chamber and motor chamber, a valve independent of the pneumatic controller for regulating the size of the passage through the said controller between the main chamber and motor chamber, a direct connection between the main chamber and motor chamber, a valve controlling said direct crlI)I1Q(li: li, a connection between the main chamber and the expression chamber and a valve for controllin said connection.

3. In' a pneumatic player mechanism, an expression box having interior partitions arranged-therein to form a main chamber, a motor chamber, 'an expression chamber, and branches leading fr m said expression chamher to pneumatic action mechanism, pneumatic controllers carried by said box one for each branch from the expression chamber to the pneumatic action. each of said controllers communicating with the expres sion chamber and a branch therefrom, a direct connection between the expression chamber and each branch. a valve for opening and closing said direct connection, pneumatic valve mechanism for operating each of said valves, a pneumatic motoiucontrollcr forming a connection between the main chamber and motor chamber, a valve independent of the pneumatic controller for regulating the size of the passage through the said controller between the main chamber and motor chamber. a direct connection between the main chamber and motor chambcna valve controllingsaid directconnection,

.a connection between the main chamber and the expression chamber, a valve for controlling said connection, and a valve stem carrying said last mentioned valve and the valve controlling the direct connection between the mainchamber and motor chamber.

in witness whereof. I, l nixcis \V. Dnarnu, have hereunto set my hand and seal at Richmond, Indiana, this 13th day of August, A. D. one thousand nine hundred and ten.

FRANCIS V. DRAPER. [l..s.] \Vitncsses CLARK D. KANOUSE, ARNOLD E. PFI-Zll-FER. 

